Drying rack



Jul 29, 1924. 1 1,502,685

M. P. SARFATY DRYING RACK Filed Jan. 6, 1922 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 INVENTOR Marion 1 fidrfzrfy BY m&w m y W ATTORNEYS July 29, 1924.

M. P. SARFATY DRYING RACK Filed Jan. 6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 rlllllil E INVENTOR M0 510]: 1? Jdrfirfir 44 ATTORNEYS Patented July 29, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,502,685 PATENT OFFlcE.

HORTON PETER SARFATY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRYING BACK.

Appllcationnled January 8, 1922. Serial No. 527,447.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MORTON P. SARFATY, a citizen of the United States, residing at 2486 Valentine Avenue in the county of Bronx, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying Racks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will ens able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to a drying rack for indoor use, and has to do particularl with a clothes drying rack in which the eat from a steam or hot water radiator is utilized to dry the clothes. Washings done in the home are very often small or constituted chiefly of childrens clothes, small articles, such as towels, and the like, and often articles of a finer nature, such as waists, which must be iven a considerable amount of care during t e washing and subsequent drying n order that they may not be damaged. In such cases it is desirabl that some means be available for drying the clothes indoors. It is furthermore extremely uncomfortable to be required to hang out a wash on a cold day, and on rainy days either in summer or winter the washing must be kept over until the weather is favorable for hanging out the clothes to dry.

In the apartment houses of the better districts of our cities it is commonly required that newly washed clothes be hung on clothes lines located on the roofs of the buildings. This system is ordinarily attended with some difiiculty, in that the line.

space available is necessarily restricted and considerable congestion occurs, particularly on those days of the week upon which most of the domestic washing is done. Furthermore, the wet clothes must be carried from the apartment in which the washing is done to the roof of the building, which is necessarily a slow and tedious task. In addition, there'is always the danger that some of the clothes may be blown from the line during the strong winds which are frequently blowing across the tops of the high buildings, or otherwise lost. These features coupled with the fact that the average washing done by the occupants of a single apartment is small, render it desirable that some means be provided for accomplishing both the washing of the clothes and their subsequent' dr ing within the rooms of the apartment. I arious devices have heretofore been proposed for drying clothes indoors by utilizlng the heat from the kitchen stove, steam rad1ators, and the like. The majority of these devices are, however, open to various ob ect1ons, such as the difliculty of assembhng them and setting them up in readiness for use, the fact that they constitute a plurality of detachable parts which are susceptible to loss at periods in which the device is not in use, and the further .fact that they are commonly of unstable construction or else so heavily built as to be extremely heavy and unsightly.

It is a principal object of this inventlon to provide a dr ing rack of the above type which is of lig t construction and of small compass, and which may easily and conveniently be applied to a radiator of the ordinary house type in such a manner as to expose the damp clothes thoroughly and un formly to the heat.

It isa further object to provide a drying rack of this type which may be lowered into a position of concealment behind the radiator when not in use by a simple operation, and which may be conveniently and completely detached from the radiator, if desired, there being no loose parts likely to be lost. 1

It is a still further object to provide a device of this nature capable of bein concealed behind thesradiator when not in use, and at the same time presenting a maximum of drying surface when set up in position to be used. 7

It is also 'an object to provide a drying rack of this type which may be manufactured and sold commercially at a price sulficie-ntly low to render the article readily saleable to the average household either singly or in greater numbers.

I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved drying rack applied to an ordinary steam or hot water radiator; Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a portion of the rack looking from the right of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view through two of the radiator compartments showing the mode. of attachment of my improved rack; Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 1-showing a modification; and Figs. 5 and 6 are a partial plan view and a partial elevational View, re-

spectively, of a modified form of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a steam or hot water radiator of the ordinary type installed in dwellings. My improved drying rack is shown attached to the radiator' and comprises a supporting standard 2 which may conveniently be a single vertically extending rod as shown. At the top of the standard 2 there is provided a bracket 3 having two upwardly pointing lugs between which there extends a pivot pin or bolt 4. Hinged to the pin 4 is a transversely extending member 5, here shown as a Wood block split centrally, as indicated at 6, from its outer end to a point near its hinged connection with the supporting standard. The

split 6 in the member 5 may be formed in any wa but is convenient y formed by a saw-cut of the desired depth. Along the split portion 60f the member 5 I provide a series of equally spaced holes bored centrally of the member and designed to receive a plurality of rods 7 which constitute the body of the drying rack and afford a drying surface of considerable extent. The rods are put in place by inserting their ends through the holes to the desired extent, for instance, to the center of their lengths as shown in the embodiment of Fig. 1. The rods 7 are then secured in position by tightening one or more screws 8 provided in the member 5, and which serve to. draw the portions of the member at either side of the split 6 into closer relation. The rack is applied to the radiator by inserting the clamping members 9 between adjacent convolutions of the radiator and tightening up the wing nut 10 provided on the connecting bolt 11 extending between the two clamping members. The rack may be applied to any portion of the radiator but it is preferable for neatness of appearance that the clamping members 9 be inserted from behind the radiator and clamped, as shown in Fig. 1, in such manner that the outer of the clamping members 9 is at the back of the radiator while the other is located in the space extending centrallyof the body of the radiator. The lower end of the supporting standard 2 fits into a hole provided for that purpose in the clamping member 9 and may be maintained at any desired height by adjusting the standard as desired, and securing it in position by means of the set screw 12 provided for the purpose. It is evident that but little time is required to mount the rack upon a radiator or to remove it when it is not in use. However, the rack may be conveniently lowered into a position of concealment behind the radiator without completely detaching it. For this purpose the ody of the rack may be turned about its pivot pin 4 into the vertical position shown tained when the rack is supported at a distance of about 16 inches above the radiator top. A rack may be constructed to maintain the drying surface at about this distance above the radiator top and at the same time be of such dimensions as to be readily concealed behind the radiator when not in use.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a somewhat modified form of construction, in which the supporting standard 2 is clamped at or near the end of the radiator and the drying rods 7 moved into such position that only their ends are inserted within the holes of the member 5. In this form of construction I provide each of the rods 7 at a point near its end with a dowel hole so that a dowel pin 18 may be inserted through the holes in adjacent rods and thus constitute a drying surface of substantial rigidity. The unsupported end of the drying rack may be held in place by a special rod 14 whose one end is hinged over the dowel pin 13 and whose other end is designed to rest against the top of the radiator, as shown. When not in use the rack will be folded up into a vertical position with the rod 14 lying in the plane of the rack as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and the entire article may be dropped into position behind the radiator. This construction possesses certain advantages, such as, for instance, the fact that it is notnecessary to reach over behind the radiator to raise and lower the rack which may be a considerable inconvenience when the radiator is hot or is built especiall close to the wall. In this construction tie set screw 12 may be operated from the end of the radiator and the rack raised and lowered with corresponding ease. Furthermore, inasmuch as both the standard 2 and the rod 14 render support to the device, this construction may be made of strength to withstand relatively heavy articles.

I have shown a still further embodiment in Figs. 5 and 6, in which two of the transverse members 5 are rovided, each of which supports a set of drymg racks 7. When it is desired to lower the rack into its position of concealment behind the radiator, the body of the rack is first turned from the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6 into a vertical osition. In this modification a second pair of hinges 15 are provided at the inner ends of the members 5 so that these members, with their respective sets of drying rods 7 may be independently swung about. For instance, after the rack has been turned into the vertical position for the purpose of lowering it behind the radiator, each section of the rack may be rotated about the hinges 15 through an angle of approximately 90 into a position such that the drying rods 7 extend in a vertical direction. The rack may now be lowered into position behind the radiator, it being merely necessary that the length of each set of drying rods 7 be not greater than the height of the radiator. Inasmuch as the average radiator as employed in dwellings is of considerable height, the drying rods 7 in the two sets may be made of appreciable length. It is to be noted that when the rack is in position for use these two sets of drying rods 7 are placed end to end so that the length of the drying surface may be made equal to substantially twice the height of the radiator. The width of the drying surface may be any amount desired.

I preferably construct my .improved drying rack of a light wood, except for the clam s and hinges which are of iron or other suita 1e metal, but it is to be understood that the entire article may be made of metal or tubing of any sort, if desired. In dwelling houses in general, and particularly in apartment houses, the radiators employed are of standard size so that a'rack embodying my invention may be made up of standard dimensions and will be suitable for installation in practically all dwellings. It is further to be understood that the rack may be clamped on to the front of the radiator, if desired, and that it may be conveniently removed entirely from the radiator and stored without danger of losing some of the parts. Further changes in details may be made within the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. A. radiator drying rack for use on radiators of the type employed in heating dwellings, comprlsm an upright supporting standard of a height less than the height of the radiator to which it is adapted to be attached, a member hingedly secured to the top portion of the supporting standard, a lurality of elements secured to said memr and forming a' drying rack, said drying rack being adapted to be maintained in a substantially horizontal position when in operative position and adapted to be swung about the hinge connection to be brought into an inoperative position in substantially the same vertical plane as the supporting standard, a clamp for securing the supporting standard to the rear coils of the radiator and means whereby the position of the clamp on the radiator COIlS may be adjusted so that the supporting standard and the rack may be lowered into a position of .concealment behind the radiator.

52. A radiator drying rack for use on radiators of the type employed in heating dwell ings, comprising an upright supporting standard of a height less than the height of the radiator to which it is adapted to be attached, a clamp for securing the supporting standard to the rear coils of the r adiator, a drying element hingedly secured to the top portion of the supporting standard and adapted to be maintained in a substantially horizontal position. when in operative position and adapted to be swung about the hinge connection to be brought 1nto an inoperative position in substantially the same vertical plane as the supporting standard and means whereby the position of the clamp on the radiator coil may be adjusted so that the supporting standard and rack may be lowered into a position of concealment behind the radiator.

3. An article, of the class described, comprising a supporting standard, a rack for receiving the material to be dried consisting of two portions, each portion comprisin a transversely extending member and a p urality of rods mounted therein, hinged connections between said rack and said standard whereby the rack ma be swung into a substantially vertical p ane, and inde endent hinged connections provided on said rack portions whereby the two parts of the rack may be swung into such position that said plurality of rods extends in the direction of said supporting standard, and means whereby said rack and supporting standard may be lowered as a unit into a position of concealment behind the radiator.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

MORTON PETER SARFATY. 

